We are the ‘Now’ of God

Aug 30, 2019

By Sabrina Smith and Yvette Deidre
It was the first time that ASAYO had organised an assembly for the young people of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur – Archdiocesan Young People’s Assembly (AYPA) He lives and He wants you to live, Aug 9-12.

Two hundred and seventy young people accepted this call to discuss the findings of the 15th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which was held in Rome in October last year in which Pope Francis focused on the theme Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment.

Arriving at dawn, time was given for the participants to rest before the programme began with icebreakers in the afternoon. The icebreakers helped the youths to mingle.

Archbishop Simon Poh, the President of the Regional Episcopal Commission for Youth and Campus Ministry, was the main celebrant for the opening Mass. In his homily, Archbishop Poh advised the youths to put Christ at the centre and to have a humble and listening heart, especially during conflicts.

Then, Archbishop Poh, Fr Gregory Chan, ASAYO Director and Fr Simon Lau, Asst Director of ASAYO, officially opened AYPA 2019.

The first session by Archbishop Simon Poh was on the post-synodal apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis, Christus Vivit (Christ is Alive). Archbishop Poh explained briefly the nine chapters. Christ is Alive and He lives and He wants you to live. He reminds us that we are not the future of tomorrow but the ‘now’ of God. Archbishop Poh concluded by saying that he hoped the AYPA will be their Emmaus experience with Jesus.

Day two started with Mass in the morning, celebrated by Fr Chan and concelebrated with Fr Simon Lau, Fr Adrian Matthews and Fr Antonius Haryanto from Indonesia.

“Social media can be used to evangelise,” said Fr Haryanto in his session on Social Media and Evangelisation. “Instead of just liking people’s photos or even statuses, why not share the Good News of Jesus Christ?” he asked. Social media is never evil; it is the user that searches for the unwanted. Social media is where all the young people are always on, so it is a good platform to evangelise and to make Jesus known.

In the afternoon, there were breakout sessions in the four languages, with topics ranging from Discernment and God calls everyone.

In the evening, there were games for everyone - dodgeball and tug of war.

After evening prayer, the young people were given the opportunity to have a dialogue session with YB Kasthuri Patto, a member of the Dewan Rakyat for Batu Kawan, Penang. It was a very inspiring session as YB Kasthuri shared her struggles in life and how she lived her faith as a Catholic politician. She reminded them that with the lowering of the voting age, anyone of them can be a future politican. She urged them to keep their faith as a shield and live life to the fullest.

Day Three began with morning Mass. Fr Lau was the main celebrant, with Archbishop Julian Leow, Fr Chan and Fr Lawrence Andrew SJ concelebrating. Fr Lau shared his conversion story with young people as a motivation for them to let go and let God take control of their lives.

In the sessions, Archbishop Leow spoke on Leadership and Accompaniment for the English session whereas the topic for Mandarin session was A Young Person In The Church Today and for the Tamil session it was on Discernment.

After lunch, the breakout sessions were on: Jesus + Me = Victory in English, God Calls Everyone in Mandarin and A Young Person In The Church Today in Tamil.

In the evening, time was given for station games which highlighted the importance of teamwork.

The highlight of the day was the Malam Sahabat. Everyone came dressed in sarongs. Some groups performed. Dinner was served in the hall. The night started with the entrance dance by ASAYO and the volunteers followed with various performances by the different parishes. A time of unity, togetherness and faith.

The final day began with morning prayer and a review of the previous day. This was followed by a dialogue session with Archbishop Leow. Due to time constraints, he was not able to answer all the questions put forward. He will work with the ASAYO team to answer the questions at a later date.

The AYPA closed with Mass presided over by Archbishop Leow. Frs Chan, Lau, Lawrence and Edwin Peter concelebrated.

The four days and three nights in Majodi were worth it even though we all have many differences, but the one thing we share in common is the love that we have for our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what makes the Church alive because the youths of today are vibrant and energetic. We are baptised and sent and we want to make a difference!

Sharings from the Youths

This is the first time I have participated in a programme for youth at Archdiocese level. Usually I participate in sporting programmes. This is a very different experience for me. 

I have never been with 270 Catholic youth for four days. Getting to know so many Catholic youth from different parishes was interesting. Learning about Pope Francis’ encyclical Christus Vivit was something I would not have done on my own. The programme was well planned and I feel I have learnt a lot more about God from the talks and dialogue sessions. Listening to people’s journey in life and how their experience brought them closer to God was very meaningful. I have definitely benefitted from this programme. As an individual this session has increased my knowledge and faith in God. 

I hope to be more active in my church and participate in ministry and church level activity. 

I will also try to project Christ in my dealing with others in university and in the cricket field. 

Well done and thank you, ASAYO, for organising AYPA for us. It was well organised and I certainly benefitted from the whole experience.--Winifred Anne Sts Peter and Paul Church, Banting

I think that the concept of AYPA to gather the voices of the youths and to listen to their problems and suggestions was an interesting one, but in implementation, it may not have turned out as the organisers had expected it to be. During the dialogue sessions — considered the most important in AYPA in view of their objective to write a document to submit to Archbishop Julian — the answers provided by the youths may have been too shallow and showed an unreflective attitude prior to answering the questions, especially during the first dialogue session.

However, the organisers also gave the youths more time to reflect on the questions and to provide personal responses to them. This reflected the seriousness of the organisers in wanting to draft a document of substance, though more could have been done prior to AYPA to help improve the results, such as to make the focus of their discussion on Christus Vivit known, or even to have pre-AYPA sessions on Christus Vivit with the participants, since the sessions in AYPA were all connected to this post-synodal apostolic exhortation. 

Mingling with youths of other parishes allowed me to find out that there are other young people that are very passionate about the Catholic Faith and are serious about it. During the short Q&A session with Archbishop Leow, the questions that were asked by the youths were interesting. It was very motivating for me to know that many of us youths are striving to know the truth. 

I suppose that Christus Vivit gathers and highlights the goings on around the life of a youth in the Church, and a reading of it would provide a better understanding of the challenges that youths of the Church face today. This could probably help in the youth ministry’s approach to the youth who have fallen away. However, I do also think that there exist deeper problems that need to be addressed, such as the need for making the youths aware of the intellectual pitfalls that exist in the world. When not well informed, the conscience remains in an ill-informed state. That would essentially be a failure of the Youth Ministry to carry out one of its most important duties, which is to care for the youths. 

Christus Vivit highlights the challenges that are brought to bear by the youth, and much of these are also challenges that youths outside the Church face, such as problems caused by the digital age, like pornography and addiction to social media which decreases the well being of youths inside and outside the Church. - I suppose the gathering of youths also allowed those of us who face the same problems in college or at work to talk about it and to strengthen and motivate each other.--Jerome Yuen Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, KL

My experience in AYPA was more to positive youth development, a platform to share our thoughts about the Church and to share the problems youth face in the Church and in the real world. Like everyone else, I had a wonderful time, just that some sessions were a bit boring As an individual, it has strengthened my faith in God. It helped to build confidence to be a better and braver Catholic and to never back down, voice out our opinions and stay strong with our suggestions. AYPA helped me stay strong in my faith, which is the only true faith, even when I’m constantly surrounded by my Muslim/other friends. I also learnt to not get emotional and break down when life throws challenges.--Jeremiah Sagayadev – St John Vianney Church, Tampin

I did not have any expectation as this was my first time joining an assembly. I am glad that I came because I had the chance to meet other youths, particularly youths from KL diocese, who share the same concerns, interests, needs and hopes with me. 

AYPA 2019 allowed the youths to voice their opinions, share testimonies, and exchange valuable ideas for the common concerns/problems/ questions we face in our student/ work life. The topics were relevant for us in this day. 

Last but not least, the people I met are very helpful energetic and fun to be around. 

The input has helped me to reflect on my vocation in life, and to know myself deeper. 

I hope that the dialogues and discussion in AYPA can be applied in the ministry I am in too. 

I have difficulty in saying no to people and always want to please everyone. Now I learned that it is God and only God that we should please, and everything else will follow.--Joanne Chin St Francis Xavier Church, PJ